Presses are machine tools that are able to change the shape of a workpiece by the application of pressure. Presses can be classified according to their mechanism: hydraulic, mechanical, pneumatic; their function: forging presses, stamping presses, press brakes, punch press, etc.; their structure; or their controllability.
Rosin refers to an extraction process that utilizes a combination of heat and pressure to nearly instantaneously squeeze resinous sap from an initial starting material. The term “rosin” originated as a method of making a product used to lubricate violin bows. Further, rosin is a sticky, stinky resin that comes from pine trees, and was sometimes known as unrefined turpentine. It's used in industrial processes and in some instances, baseball pitchers illegally use pine rosin to change ball dynamics.
Cannabis, also known as marijuana, also produces rosin, and may be extracted from a cured marijuana flower, bud, or hash. To remove the rosin from marijuana, a heat extraction method is typically used. Traditionally two methods have been used for extracting the oil from cannabis leaves. These methods include Butane Hash Oil (BHO) and CO2 extraction. In cannabis, the main compounds that producers are looking to extract are cannabinoids and terpenes—these compounds provide the aroma, flavor and effect of the final product. Fast extractions are possible with butane but little control of all the material, while CO2 can be tunable and therefore is able to collect all of the same material, just through a segmented process.
Butane Hash Oil, commonly referred to as BHO, is a type of cannabis concentrate made using butane as the main solvent. While a number of variables can determine the final consistency of BHO (mostly temperature), people use different names when referring to each of the different consistencies. Under this form of extraction, THC content can be as high as 80-90%. This makes BHO a popular choice for many medical marijuana patients suffering from chronic pain, sleep disorders, and other intractable symptoms. It is essential to make sure that the oil is lab tested for purity, as improperly purged BHO may contain traces of butane, pesticides, or other unhealthy ingredients or contaminants.
The carbon dioxide or CO2 method is dependent on turning CO2 into a supercritical liquid. This method uses carbon dioxide under high pressure and extremely low temperatures to isolate, preserve, and maintain the purity of the medicinal oil. This process is performed until the supercritical liquid form is achieved, at which point the carbon dioxide is able to act as a solvent. This solvent is then forced through an extraction vessel packed with granularly ground cannabis material. Although this process requires expensive equipment and a steep operational learning curve, it results in a product that is safe, potent, and free of chlorophyll.
These common practices of extracting the marijuana oil from the plant have proven to be time consuming, expensive, not always efficient and effective, and debatably most importantly not 100% natural—a characteristic important to the marijuana manufacturing business to produce an unblemished, chemical-free product.